| SAI (Sonepat), SE Railway (Kolkata), set for title clash in women’s hockey tourney by TrustMe on 23 January, 2013 - 12:00 AM | ||
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 TrustMe | SAI (Sonepat), SE Railway (Kolkata), set for title clash in women’s hockey tourney on 23 January, 2013 - 12:00 AM | |
Ludhiana: Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sonepat, dethroned the current champions, Railway Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, 2-1, while South Eastern Railway Kolkata, overpowered Central Railway, Mumbai, 3-1 to settle for the title clash in the 16th All- India Mohinder Partap Singh Grewal Memorial Hockey Tournament being played at the Olympian Prithipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium of the Punjab Agricultural University, here today.On the penultimate day, holders RCF, Kapurthala, failed to keep their domain in tact. In the first semifinal, they lost the battle of nerves against their spirited opponents, SAI, Sonepat.SAI players took an early lead when Monika dodged past a hoard of defenders and managed to roll the ball into the net (1-0). She again struck in the 29th minute to read the score sheet 2-0.In the second half, the reigning champions reorganised themselves. They made concerete forays into the rival's territory. Eventually, their efforts yielded the desired result in the 47 minute as Anuradha Devi scored a fine field goal to reduce the margin (1-2).Elated at this, RCF eves went all out for the equaliser and in the process, succeeded in sneaking into the danger zone time and again but all their moves were thwarted by the agile SAI, Sonepat, custodian.In the second semifinal, South Eastern Railway, Kolkata, faced a little challenge from Central Railway, -5SER, Kolkata, drew the first blood in the third minute through L Kerketta but were denied success till half time.However, the Central Railway players wilted under pressure in the second half as they conceded goals in the 46th minute (Punita) and 54th minute (Kavita). The lone goal for the losers came off Sandeep Kaur's stick in the 64th minute. | ||